Abstract:

Cerambycidae is a species-rich family of mostly wood-feeding (xylophagous) beetles containing nearly 35,000 known species. The higher-level phylogeny of Cerambycidae has never been robustly reconstructed using molecular phylogenetic data or a comprehensive sample of higher taxa, and its internal relationships and evolutionary history remain the subjects of ongoing debate. We reconstructed the higher-level phylogeny of Cerambycidae using phylogenomic data from 522 single copy nuclear genes, generated via anchored hybrid enrichment. Our taxon sample included exemplars of all families and 23/30 subfamilies of Chrysomeloidea, with a focus on the large family Cerambycidae. Our results reveal a monophyletic Cerambycidae sensu stricto in all but one analysis, and a polyphyletic Cerambycidae sensu lato. When monophyletic, Cerambycidae sensu stricto was sister to the family Disteniidae. Relationships among the subfamilies of Cerambycidae sensu stricto were also recovered with strong statistical support except for Cerambycinae being made paraphyletic by Dorcasomus (Dorcasominae) in the nucleotide (but not amino acid) trees. Most other chrysomeloid families represented by more than one terminal taxon – Chrysomelidae, Disteniidae, Vesperidae, and Orsodacnidae – were monophyletic, but Megalopodidae was rendered paraphyletic by Cheloderus (Oxypeltidae). Our study corroborates some relationships within Chrysomeloidea that were previously inferred from morphological data, while also reporting several novel relationships. The present work thus provides a robust framework for future, more deeply taxon-sampled, phylogenetic and evolutionary studies of the families and subfamilies of Cerambycidae sensu lato and other Chrysomeloidea.